Assessing the Online Learner

Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, experts in the field of online teaching and learning, this hands-on resource helps higher education professionals understand the fundamentals of effective online assessment. It offers guidance for designing and implementing creative assessment practices tied directly to course activities to measure student learning. The book is filled with illustrative case studies, authentic assessments based in real-life application of concepts, and collaborative activities that assess the quality of student learning rather than relying on the traditional methods of measuring the amount of information retained.

Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, experts in the field of online teaching and learning, this hands-on resource helps higher education professionals understand the fundamentals of effective online assessment. It offers guidance for designing and implementing creative assessment practices tied directly to course activities to measure student learning. The book is filled with illustrative case studies, authentic assessments based in real-life application of concepts, and collaborative activities that assess the quality of student learning rather than relying on the traditional methods of measuring the amount of information retained.

Preface.Acknowledgments.The Authors.PART ONE: Assessment Basics.ONE: How Do We Know They Know?Developing Standards of Assessment.Getting Down to the Basics.Learner-Focused Teaching.Applying What We Have Learned.TWO: Assessment Online.Principles of Effective Online Assessment.Assessment and the Online Learner.Using the Online Environment for Assessment Advantage.Plagiarism and Cheating.Applying What We Have Learned.THREE: Course and Program Evaluation.Course Evaluation.Instructor Evaluation.Program Evaluation.Competency Assessment as Course and Program Evaluation.Applying What We Have Learned.PART TWO: The Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit.Introduction to the Assessment and Evaluation Toolkit.Rubrics and Rubric Development.Using Student Feedback for Assessment.How Interactive Is It?Authentic Assessments.Performance Assessments.Effective Test and Quiz Development.Portfolios.Portfolios as Assessment.Reflective Assessment and Self-Assessment.Collaborative Peer Assessment.The Use of Wikis and Blogs in Assessment.Effective Online Course Evaluation.Effective Faculty Evaluation.Additional Resources.References.Index.